Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1038 Conflict breaks out
The soldiers of Cao's army were still immersed in the fear of the terrifying power of the stone-breaking heavy crossbow. When they woke up from the roars of Cao Ren and several generals, the spears of the Han army had already pierced in front of them.

"Pfft..."

As expected, a group of Cao's soldiers were stabbed to death in front of the two armies.

"Idiot, waste!" On the high platform, Cao Ren was so angry that his face turned red. The messenger beside him could almost hear the "crunching" sound of his teeth grinding, which made him feel uneasy about the situation his comrades would face after the war.

Cao Ren looked viciously at the generals of Jingzhou not far away, and became even more angry when he saw that they did not join the battle.

"What are you doing? The war is raging, and instead of fighting, you are whispering here. Are you planning a rebellion?"

Cai Mao and others were stunned by the sudden shouting, but they reacted quickly.

"Cao Ren, what do you mean by that? It was you who gave the order, telling us to wait for the general's order and not to act rashly. Now you are reprimanding us for this. If you don't like our Jingzhou soldiers, you can just say so. Why do you have to act like such a mean person?"

Cai Mao directly retorted. Cao Ren was already angry, and after being contradicted by him, how could he care who was right and who was wrong?
"How dare you! When the lord left, he ordered me to take full charge of the affairs of the camp. This general orders you to lead the army immediately and hold the gate of the camp. If you are defeated, you will all be beheaded."

"Cao Ren, you..." Cai Mao was furious and was about to step forward to argue, but was stopped by Wen Pin.

Wen Pin advised softly, "General Cai, don't be impulsive. Cao Ren is the lord's cousin and has always been trusted by us. It will be of no benefit for us to clash with him. We should follow the military order and guard the gate."

He had good intentions, but when Cai Mao heard his words, they took on a different meaning.

Cai Mao glanced at him coldly and said, "Humph, Wen Pin, General Wen, I forgot that you have long been a running dog of the Cao family."

Wen Pin was shocked and angry, pointing at Cai Mao and shouting, "Cai Mao, what do you mean by that? I have never offended you before, and now I am trying to persuade you to avoid trouble, but you are being so indiscriminate, what's the reason?"

"You know best what I mean." After saying this, Cai Mao stopped paying attention to Wen Pin and turned around to call Zhang Yun, Su Shuang, Wei Yan and others.

"Military orders must be obeyed. Follow me to fight."

After saying that, he glanced at Wen Pin and led his troops towards the camp gate. Wen Pin was full of confusion, wondering how he had offended the leader of the Jingzhou soldiers. However, the battle situation was urgent and he could not afford to think too much. He could only pick up his weapons and run up.

With the participation of soldiers from Jingzhou, the battle situation was quickly brought under control. At least in the area around the camp gate, the advance speed of the Han army almost came to a standstill. This made Cao Ren's expression ease a little.

He glanced at the generals of Jingzhou and muttered with some disdain: "They are still somewhat useful."

At this time, the sun was rising, and the warm sunlight of the morning sun was shining on the earth, which improved Cao Ren's mood.

He once again turned his attention to Cai Mao and the others: "These disloyal and unrighteous people are unreliable. Meng De is not in a position to deal with them, so I will slowly weaken their forces and let them die on the battlefield sooner or later. Only then will Jingzhou be truly under the control of our army."

Cao Ren seemed to be very satisfied with his plan, so much so that a smile appeared unconsciously on the corners of his mouth.

He turned to the messenger and said, "Go, tell General Yu Jin to lead the troops in person and to support the army behind Cai Mao and others. If any Jingzhou soldier is found to be afraid of fighting, he will be beheaded immediately."

A moment later, Cai Mao heard the sound of Wei Yan arguing with someone.

"Damn it, who do you think you are? How dare you kill my personal soldiers?"

Yu Jin responded coldly: "This man refused to advance on the battlefield. I, the general, will, in accordance with military orders, behead him and display his head to the public to stabilize the morale of the army. If General Wei is dissatisfied, you can wait until the lord returns and file a complaint with me."

"Bullshit!" Wei Yan was furious. "My personal soldiers are all heroes, how could they be afraid of fighting? It's obvious that the soldier under your command has an old grudge against me and is taking this opportunity to take revenge. Do you think I, Wei Yan, am easy to bully?"

He picked up his sword and rushed to Yu Jin. He stared at the soldier who had just attacked with a ferocious look, which frightened the soldier so much that he retreated repeatedly, but Yu Jin held him back from behind.

"What are you afraid of? We are all soldiers under the command of the lord, and we are following orders. What do we have to fear?" He then looked at Wei Yan and said, "Yu said that now is the time for fierce fighting. If General Wei Yan is dissatisfied, he can go to the lord to complain after the battle. Now is the critical moment. If the general continues to make trouble, he will be sorry that I can't accompany you."

"Yu Jin, you dog thief, you..." Wei Yan was so angry that his hair and beard stood on end, and he was ready to rush up and fight Yu Jin to the death.

"General, forget it." The personal soldiers and followers around him stopped him.

"Yes, the arm cannot twist the thigh. The brothers are grateful for your kindness, General, but if you are punished by military law for this, how can the brothers feel at ease?"

"It's okay for Gou Liuzi to die. Although we are sad, we can't let you, the general, get involved with it."

Under the persuasion of these soldiers, Wei Yan had to spit at Yu Jin in hatred before rejoining the battle.

"Tsk..." Yu Jin didn't care at all.

Cao Ren had seen this scene early on, and he knew very well that what Wei Yan said was indeed the truth. However, this was exactly what he wanted to see. As long as this "misunderstanding" and "friction" did not evolve to a certain extent, he had no intention of stepping in to stop it.

"Da da da……"

A man came riding a horse at full speed, carrying an order on his back and holding tightly in his hand a roll of black cloth with red gold edges. He came into Gao Shun's army. When the soldiers saw him dressed like this, they quickly made way for him, allowing him to pass unhindered and come to Gao Shun's side.

"Your Majesty has ordered that Cao's army has broken through the siege and is only ten miles away from here. Please withdraw to Hulao Pass immediately and wait for another day to fight."

Upon hearing the decree, Gao Shun hadn't said anything yet, but his deputy general was unhappy: "Our army is on the verge of victory. If we withdraw our troops at this time, won't that mean we will lose everything?"

Gao Shun shook his head slightly: "If Cao Cao returns to the camp, it will be difficult for our army to win."

"But, General..."

"Ming Jin retreats the troops."

Gao Shun just left these four words coldly, then he pulled the reins himself, turned around, and walked back, looking as if he had no regrets.

"General, the enemy seems to have... withdrawn?"

The messenger beside Cao Ren shouted, causing him to quickly turn his gaze from the generals of Jingzhou to look at Gao Shun.

"Hmm? They really withdrew their troops? That's not right. Gao Shun clearly has the upper hand, why would he withdraw his troops at this time?"

Cao Ren was extremely puzzled.

The Han army quickly broke away from the battlefield like a tide in a moment. The heavy shield soldiers who had not joined the battle came to the rear of the retreating army in an orderly manner, covering the army's return to the west.

A group of Cao's troops rushed up to pursue, but all their attacks were neutralized by the heavy shield, and they were then killed by the powerful crossbows behind the heavy shield.

"Pass the order down, do not pursue."

Even though Cao Ren still had thousands of doubts in his mind, he immediately issued a military order to gather the troops back to the camp.

He stared at the generals of Jingzhou: "Why did Gao Shun retreat as soon as they joined the battle?"

(End of this chapter)